Sunday, March 21, 1999
Newport native son unknown
Gary Bauer? (Hint: He's running for president)
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, who grew up in this Campbell County city, is on a weeklong campaign swing that will take him to South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire.
Maybe he should consider a quick trip down Monmouth Street.
Though he was raised just a few blocks from Newport's main thoroughfare, there are plenty of merchants and residents who have never heard of Mr. Bauer. The 52-year-old Newport High School grad served in Ronald Reagan's administration and is now vying for the GOP nomination in the 2000 presidential race.
“Who did you say?” Walter Case, 41, a clerk at Newport Liquor Dispensary, asked when told Mr. Bauer was running for president. “Can't say I've heard of him.”
But he chuckled when he pondered the possibility.
“That would be different, a president from Newport,” Mr. Case said.
Down the street, 81-year-old barber Eddie Mohlenkamp said he's just about seen it all in the 49 years he's cut hair at his two-chair Monmouth Street shop.
But not Mr. Bauer.
“Don't think I know who that is,” Mr. Mohlenkamp said Thursday morning.
“Wasn't he the one who was on Meet the Press a while back?” he said, referring to Mr. Bauer's Feb.1 appearance on the Sunday morning program. “I didn't know that guy was from Newport. I never really knew anything about him until I saw him that day.”
Therein may lie the biggest problem facing Mr. Bauer.
“People just don't know who he is,” said Edwin Rayburn, 68, whose family has run Eberts Meat Market for 101 years.
Leaning over a glass count er stocked with deep red ground chuck, thick stuffed pork chops and hefty steaks, Mr. Rayburn said he is very familiar with Mr. Bauer and his conservative political philosophy.
“He's got some good credentials. And he's a very smart man. I don't know if he can win, but I think he'll bring some new ideas to the table,” he said.
Mr. Bauer is recognized in Washington political circles as one of the leading spokesmen on socially conservative issues such as opposition to abortion.
But outside of the nation's capital he doesn't have near the name power of GOP candidates like Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Elizabeth Dole and Dan Quayle.
“I haven't heard of him,” said Kitty Pritchard, co-owner of Melody Manor dog grooming for 20 years and a former music teacher in the Newport school system.
“If he went to school in Newport, I might have taught him. But that name sure doesn't ring any bells.”
A few doors down Monmouth at the Cookie Jar Bakery, Betty Bowles, 50, wiped the counter after the morning rush and shook her head when asked about Mr. Bauer.
“Isn't that awful, but I don't know who he is,” said Ms. Bowles, who has lived in Newport for 45 years.
But she wanted to learn more about Mr. Bauer's strong opposition to abortion.
“That's a big issue with me,” she said. “If he's against abortion, maybe I should learn some more about him.”
Over at the coffee counter, a father-daughter carpet installing team poured cream and sugar into their steaming Styrofoam cups.
“I know who Gary Bauer is, but not many people do,” said Newport resident Jack Uehlein, 61. “I don't think he's going to make it to the White House.”
“Never heard of him,” said Mr. Uehlein's daughter, Beth Bradley, 33, also of Newport. “It's kind of hard to believe somebody from Newport is running for president.”
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